Lesil McGuire

Lesil Lynn McGuire (born January 22, 1971) is an American politician in the state of Alaska. She served as a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from 2007 until 2017, after her tenure as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 2000 through 2006. She served Senate District N until redistricting in 2012 placed her in District K for 2013. Early years McGuire was born in Portland, Oregon, on January 22, 1971, before her family moved to Alaska in 1973. She attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, beginning in 1989, where she majored in both political science and speech. She also served two years as an intern and press aide for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska before graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After college she attended law school at Willamette University College of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 1998. In law school she worked for Willamette Law Review, the school's legal journal. After graduation, she returned to Alaska and clerked briefly for Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot before taking a position as an aide to the Alaska State House Judiciary Committee. She is a German Marshall Fellow and a Henry Toll Fellow. Personal life She has one son, Grayson McGuire Anderson. Political career In 2000, at the age of 29, she won election to the Alaska House of Representatives to replace John Cowdery, who was elected to the Alaska State Senate. She served in the House as a moderate Republican until 2006 when she was elected to the Alaska State Senate, continuing to serve as a moderate Republican. She was the youngest member of the Alaska State Senate at the time. She was also the first woman president of PNWER where she established the Arctic Caucus, in addition to her duties with the state. She was also active with CSG, otherwise known as the Council of State Governments, having served as the past chair of the Western Region. She has been a leader in energy and Arctic policy as well as women's rights.